Losing Souls: Christmas Time for Geminis
by Q2
Summary: It's Christmas time on Earth and Barry would like a chance to participate with Juno and Vela, but when unexpected problems arise that Vela cannot handle, she cancels Barry's visit. With the Geminis dealing with their problems, the Drones secretly develop


**Losing Souls**

Christmas Time for Geminis

By: Q2

Chapter 1 "Uncontrollable Situations"

A warm feeling passed through the happy Geminis. A special day was afoot as Juno eagerly waited for Vela to arrive with the mail. He relaxed in his chair and smiled toward the ceiling. His gaze showed much impatience, yet he was ecstatic. Lupus walked in from behind and glared at the oddly overjoyed Juno. 

"Lupus?" Juno replied upon hearing approaching footsteps. 

Lupus went over to Juno's ankles and nudged them. Juno bent down and held his canine friend in his arms. 

"Christmas is coming, boy. And as usual, we're thinking of doing something special. I wonder what would you like to do." 

Lupus licked Juno's cheek several times. Juno couldn't help but giggle from being tickled. 

"Hey, c'mon, boy. Cut it out. All we got to do is wait for Vela to come back and-" 

Juno cut himself off when Lupus' head perked up over Juno's shoulder. Lupus leapt from Juno's arms and headed down toward the dock. 

"Lupus?" Juno called, "What is it? Did Vela come back?" 

Lupus ran all the way to the dock where Vela had returned. Vela was leaning against the wall and faced the floor before her. In her right hand was a sheet of folded paper. She held the paper next to her waist and her eyes remained fixed on it. Her face was pouted as if distress had claimed her emotions. She heard a bark come from the corner on her right, but she did not respond to it. 

Lupus came charging in and greeted Vela with a lick to her ankles. She knelt down and scratched behind Lupus' ears which made him shiver with glee. Lupus looked up at Vela's face. She was not facing him and still appeared depressed. Lupus' ears sank as he whimpered. Vela stood up and headed towards the exit, but when she got to the door, Juno came in and startled Vela. 

"Oh, Vela," Juno apologized, "I'm sorry. I almost hit you." 

Vela stared into Juno's eyes from the shock. In a moment, her face slowly saddened again. 

"It's almost time, Vela," Juno continued, "I guess we should get ready now-" 

Juno studied his sister's expression. Obviously, something troubled her when she went to pick up the mail. 

"Vela?" Juno asked, "What's wrong? What happened?" 

Vela looked back down at the paper in her hand. Juno followed her eyesight and noticed the letter. He looked back up at Vela and grew very concerned. 

"Vela… wha-" 

Vela turned away from Juno and reached her right hand at Juno offering him the letter. Juno was perplexed but he accepted the letter from Vela's hand. Vela placed her hands at her sides and fisted her anger. Juno brought the letter to his eyes and read it. Moments passed and paragraph by paragraph, Juno began to understand Vela's problem. He looked back up at Vela and she looked back at him assuming he finished reading the letter. 

"We'll see about this," Juno declared, "Let me get the phone." 

Later, Juno was on the phone while Vela and Lupus watched. Juno seemed a little scared. Vela remained saddened. Lupus was confused. After a long pause, Juno spoke, "C'mon. This has to be some mistake. It just has to be." 

Another silence fell as Juno was on the phone until he said, "but, what are Vela and I gonna do? Wha-" 

Juno listened to the person on the other end of the phone line. He said, "Isn't there another place they can make this thing?" 

Juno again paid close attention to what the person said until he finished with, "No, I'm sorry……. Yeah, thanks. Good bye." 

Juno laid the phone back down and then glanced at Vela. She hadn't changed her expression. Lupus jerked his head back and forth at the two siblings. 

"C'mon, Vela. We'd better report to the chief before we're late. We'll worry about this later." 

* * *

Later that day, Juno, Vela, and Lupus had reported to the headquarters of the Jet Force Federation. They walked down several corridors before finally reaching the chief's office. As Juno opened the door, they saw the chief talking into a communications link device on his desk. The chief looked up and motioned for the Geminis to come in. Juno, Vela, and Lupus walked in and saluted to their commander. The chief finished his talk on the communications link and faced the Geminis. Vela's thoughts were elsewhere. 

"At ease. At ease," the chief insisted. "How are you?" 

"We're just fine, sir," Juno answered. 

"Good. Good. Well, as you both know, today is the day you two officially get a week off." 

"Yes, sir. We are well aware, sir." 

"Excellent. I've already arranged to having your checks sent to you in the mail so you should be getting them soon." 

"Thanks, sir." 

"Vela?" 

Vela's perked up at the sound of her name. "Um… sir!" 

"Are you feeling alright?" 

"Yes, sir. I'm okay." 

The chief glared a little at Vela. He suspected something wasn't right. 

"Well, if you say so, Vela. Is there anything else to report?" 

"Nothing, sir," Vela confirmed. 

"Well, then, enjoy your Christmas break you guys." 

"Thank you, sir," Juno and Vela saluted. 

Juno, Vela, and Lupus exited the chief's office and continued down the hallway. As they marched towards their ship, Vela slowly began to lose pace. She continued to slow down more and more until she stopped. Juno and Lupus turned around and saw Vela's eyes aching to cry. Juno and Lupus froze standing in the presence of Vela's rarely seen misery. She held in her tears until she blinked. Her tears ran down her cheek and curved underneath her chin. She took the side of her hand and wiped away the wetness from her eyes and then her cheeks. Juno approached her and placed his hand on her shoulder. 

"Don't worry, Vela. Things will be alright." 

Vela stared at her brother and narrowed her eyes. Juno widened his eyes in surprise and removed his hand from her shoulder. They stayed fixed at each other's eyes. Lupus stayed where he was only watching the two gaze at each other. 

"You know, Juno," Vela spoke, "It seems like it's happening all over again." 

"No, it's not, Vela." 

"Yes it is, Juno! It's all happening all over again! I'm sick of all this shit happening to us!" 

With that said, Vela marched down the hallway by herself. Juno glanced back at her and sighed. Lupus moaned and followed Vela. 

* * *

A day had passed. Vela hadn't left her room since yesterday. Lupus went on his own business on Earth. Juno tried several times to fix the problem he and Vela faced, but no luck had come. He didn't bother Vela with anything, but he repeatedly told himself that he needed help to fix the problem. 

Juno sat in the main chair on the bridge of the ship. Surprisingly enough, there were no coffee beverages in his hand. This did not stop him from drinking anything, however. He had with him a cup of water. He sipped a little water and stared at the inside of the cup. His mind was still trapped between question and solution. He did not know what to do and soon he began to relate his problems to the cup of water. 

"Hm. Half empty… or half full?" 

Suddenly, a buzz broke the silence in the room and alerted Juno. He leapt up, spilling the cup of water on his chair, and headed for the controls. He viewed the monitor as it displayed, "Warning. Incoming ship." 

Juno gasped to himself. "Oh no. The sensors didn't recognize this ship in its data banks. Well, whatever this new ship is, I'd better contact its captain and see what he or she wants." 

Juno clicked a few controls and the monitor flashed to a static screen. 

"This is Juno of the Jet Force Federation. Identify yourself and state your purpose." 

"Hey there, Juno," a too familiar voice sounded. 

"Oh no…" Juno slapped his forehead and shook his head.   
The monitor flashed again and showed a video of Barry at the controls of the approaching ship. 

"How do you like my new ship, Juno?" 

"Barry, what do you want?" 

"I just want to come over and visit you guys. I've got some interesting news and on top of that something else I want to talk about." 

"'Sigh', fine, Barry." 

Juno shut off the alarm and set the controls to allow Barry's arrival. Juno sat back down in his chair and covered his face. 

"Just what we need… Barry." 

In a few moments, Barry reached the bridge. In his hand was a bright green gem. 

"Hey, Juno." 

"H- hi, Barry," Juno stuttered. 

"Did you take a good look at my ship? It's great isn't?" 

"Well, Barry. It did look more advanced than your other ship." 

"Of course it did. My new ship has proton charged booster rockets, bullet proof 4 inch Skolikton glass, high powered heat seeking homing missiles, reinforced Ichorian steel covered plates, infrared and ultraviolet scanners, triple barreled high standard one million voltage Shockers, four double ranged super powered Tri Rocket Launchers,…" 

"Barry!" Juno cut him off. 

"What?" 

"Why the new ship?" 

"Well," Barry folded his arms and posed, "a super genius such as myself should always be prepared for an enemy. After all, I have lots of 'em, especially with those Drones still out there acting on their own." 

"And probably Vela too," Juno whispered to himself. 

"Huh?" 

"Nothing. Anyway, why are you carrying that gem?" 

"Oh, this thing. Well, for the past week I've been doing research on this gem. I've made some pretty interesting discoveries." 

"Oh, really?" Juno said apathetically, "Like what?" 

Barry walked in front of Juno and showed him the gem. 

"When I was Mizar and heading towards your planet in that asteroid, I noticed Gem Quarray and launched an attack on it. Then one of you guys came and managed to somehow send enough power to the orbiting satellite and shoot away my meteorites. Which one of you did that anyway? You or Vela?" 

"It was Lupus," Vela answered while standing in front of the door to her room. 

Barry and Juno turned around in a bit of a shock. 

"Vela," Juno said, "y-you're out of your room." 

"Well," she slightly grinded her teeth, "I lost concentration when I heard Barry come in." 

"You mean to tell me that Lupus sent that power to destroy my meteorites?" Barry complained. 

"That's right, Barry," Vela answered. 

"Dang. I can't even believe that." Barry looked around the room. "Say, where is Lupus anyway?" 

"He's down on Earth doing his own business." 

"What? Lupus? Doing what?" 

"I don't know, Barry. That's his business." 

"But, he's a dog! You mean to tell me he left to go on Earth to do whatever he pleases as if he were a real person?" 

"That's right." 

"Damn. What is that dog? A canine, or a Tribal, or a human being? Say… Now that I think about it, Lupus would make an excellent lab experiment." 

"Don't even think about it, Barry!" Vela snapped. 

"Er, um, I… I was just joking. Heh heh." Then Barry thought to himself, "Mental note. Kidnap Lupus." 

"Well, Barry, you were saying about the gems?" 

"Oh yeah. Well, I found out what gave that machine Lupus used its power. It was from gems like this one. So, apparently these things can increase one's power." 

"So, does that mean you're gonna use it to become more powerful?" 

"I would if I could. You see, no one's figured out how to add the gem's power to their one physical self. I guessed that the gems must have some hidden power to them being the reason why no one has felt its power. I took a gem for myself and studied it this week. I was amazed at what I found. From the tests I ran from the infected Drones of Tawfret, I've discovered that these gems share an identical energy reading as those Drones possessed." 

Vela and Juno exchanged stunned looks as Barry continued. 

"I went down to Goldwood and spoke to Jeff about it. He said that at the time he attacked the Drones on Tawfret he was summoning powers from the Heavens to defeat them. Well, I never really believed in faith and all that stuff, but if what he said is true, then the theory I suddenly pondered might be true too." 

"What theory?" Vela asked. 

"If one can gather enough of those gems and learn to use its power, it may be possible to connect with the Heavens. It may be even possible to communicate with ascended spirits!" 

"What?" Vela shouted. 

"That's right! And if that's possible, then…" 

"Then what?" 

"It may be possible to restore life in a soulless body. There's a little more too. More research led me to find out that there has been some discovery of these same gems on Earth. I think whom ever discovered them must have sensed their power as well. They gave these gems the name Christ Gems. Perhaps there really has been some relationship between these gems' powers and the Heavens. Unfortunately, this was all in the past so there's probably no more of these gems on Earth, but that only justifies the rarity and value of these gems. Oh…," Barry hugged the gem tightly and shook with excitement, "it's just so wonderful that I almost can't wait to get started on it!" 

"Almost can't wait to get started on it, Barry?" Juno asked. 

"That's right. Almost. Because there is something that I want to do first." 

"What's that?" 

"Spend Christmas with you guys!" 

Both Juno and Vela froze with their eyes wide open and jaws dropped. 

"What, you guys don't remember saying that it was okay if I spent Christmas with you?" 

"Oh, wait," Juno thought out loud, "Now I remember saying that. That was so long ago." 

"Yeah. You guys told me all about the Christmas holidays that Earthlings celebrate. I never heard such a thing before and it sounded like so much fun when you told me. I want to spend Christmas with you guys, if it's okay." 

"Well, Barry," Vela started. 

Juno and Barry looked at her as she stared back at Barry's face. Barry looked a little puzzled, but Vela looked worried as she studied the Tribal's face. In an instant she began to drop into a depressed state. She turned her head from Barry and the two guys leaned in closer. 

"I'm sorry, Barry," Vela explained, "but something's come up and I can't let you spend Christmas with us." 

"Vela," Juno thought to himself. 

"What?" Barry said. "What do you mean?" 

"You heard me right, Barry," Vela replied, "You can't spend Christmas with us. Sorry." 

"What? C'mon, Vela. I'm sure what ever came up it'll just fix itself…" 

"No, Barry! It won't!" Vela shot back. 

"What? Juno?" Barry turned to Juno for assistance. 

"Vela," Juno tried to help, "c'mon. Barry's obviously been looking forward to this." 

"Sorry, Juno," Vela retorted, "but my mind has been made up." 

"Vela," Barry asked, "What's wrong? What is this problem that's so bad that I can't stay? Let me help." 

"You can't help, Barry." 

"Why not?" 

"You just can't!" 

Barry's jaw dropped and he gave a quiet moan. He shook it off and just looked up in disgust. 

"Fine, Vela. I don't know what I did this time, but if it's that bad that I can't stay with you guys for Christmas then so be it. I've got a gem to study on." 

Barry angrily stomped back towards his ship. As he left, Vela folded her arms and faced away from Juno. Juno was looking straight at Vela with an annoyed look. 

"Vela." Juno called bitterly. 

"Look, Juno. I'm sorry, but when I looked at Barry I-" 

She shook her head and shut her eyes tightly. Juno peeked around her face and saw a tear run down her cheek. Juno stood up and laid his hands on her shoulders, but it only made Vela feel worse and hang her body. Juno wrapped his arms around her waist hugged her. 

"Juno," she explained, "when I looked into Barry's face, it all came back. All of it just came back at once. I thought that since it's been about two years that after we beat Mizar, I'll be able to handle this. Last year was fine since we knew Barry was sentenced to Rith Essa, but now it's just… it's too unbearable. Maybe I'm too weak or maybe I just hadn't gotten over it yet, but please don't make me go through it again, Juno." 

Juno sighed knowing that he was going to side with Vela. He always had a soft spot in his heart when it comes to helping Vela calm down. He leaned his head over to her ear and spoke softly. 

"Okay, Vela. I won't let Barry stay with us on Christmas." 

"Thank you, Juno." 

Juno let go of Vela and she headed back towards her room. However, before she opened the door she looked back at Juno. 

"You know, Juno, I don't understand how you can be so calm through all of this. I mean, here I am fretting over something that you show little worry about. It's like no matter what, you think that everything will turn out okay. Juno, I envy you, but through all we've been together, I still think you're a great brother, and I love you." 

Juno gazed at his sister and smiled. 

"Vela. Well, sometimes you're a little over obsessive, but I haven't complained about it. And in any case, I'm proud of you. You've shown real independence, true capabilities as an officer, and care for others. You even have a boyfriend now. I think you've really come up as a young woman. I'm sure wherever mom and dad are right now, they are proud of you too. You're my sister, and I'll always love you." 

Vela's smile was weak yet existent on her face. However, it was all she responded with. She opened the door to her room, gave Juno one last glance, and went in. 

* * *

On Earth, Lupus strolled on the streets with a swaying tongue and wide grin. From time to time, people would look over and share comments about Lupus amongst each other. He was still in uniform, but had no gun on his back. He watched the people before him walk passed him as he headed down to the end of the street. Unexpectedly, he heard a faint sound: too weak for a human being to hear. His ears pointed upward and he turned his head to his right. He began to sneer as he waited for something he predicted will happen. 

In a second, a heavy explosion devastated an area not far from Lupus. People ran for cover and Lupus ducked keeping his ground. Tremors overwhelmed the ground. People braced themselves on the pavement. After a second, Lupus leapt into action chasing after the source of the explosion. 

Lupus came to a long barbwire fence surrounding a factory under attack by a Drone ship. Several drones were exiting the factory carrying machinery equipment and spare parts. Lupus wasted no time activating his signal link on the top of his paw. 

The chief of Jet Force received the signal in his office. An alarm beneath his desk sounded. He lifted his wrist and clicked a button on his watch. A monitor rose from the center of the chief's desk. He pressed a button on the monitor and it showed Lupus on its screen. 

"Lupus! What is it, boy? Danger?" 

Lupus barked and shook his head. 

"Alright, Lupus." The chief pressed a few more buttons on the monitor. "I'm locking on to your position and sending coordinates to nearby officers now! Backup will be there shortly." 

Lupus looked back up at the factory and saw the Drones boarding their ship. Lupus pressed a button on his other paw. His back sparkled with multicolored lights until a Plasma Shotgun appeared on his back. He jumped up high, hovered over the fence, and charged at the Drones. All of the Drones were in the ship and ready to take off. As Lupus approached, the Drone ship launched into the air. Lupus stopped and charged his Plasma Shotgun to full power. He fired an energy blast into the bottom of the Drone ship. 

Inside the Drone ship, sensors were activated and the helm of the ship investigated the cause for alarm. 

"There's been an attack on the bottom of the ship," he announced, "minimal damage, however. Sensors indicate a Jet Force member below. Visual scanners locking on… now!" 

On a main screen showed Lupus looking up at the ship and preparing for another attack. 

"It's that mutt! Grrr…! I'll show his ass who's boss around here! Prepare to fire!" 

"No!" a voice burst from directly behind. A staff with a Tribal head on the top of it struck the helm on the head. "If you kill that dog I swear I'll rip off your head and feed it to a wild pack of anteaters!" 

"No!" the helm's screamed while his eyes widened, "I'm sorry, Ffej! I'm sorry!" 

"Good!" Behind the helm was a drone in a dark green shirt and brown pants. He wore a Tribal head on his head and a necklace similar to Barry's around his neck. In his right hand was the staff he hit the helm with. "If you kill that dog now you'll have part of your plans ruined! Why do you think we're stealing this stuff in the first place?" 

"I'm sorry, Ffej. I'll be good." 

"Listen up," Ffej ordered, "we need to get out of here at full speed! Reinforcements will arrive any minute if we wait too long! Let's go!" 

Before taking another attack, the Drone ship's rockets blazed incredibly with fire and launched the ship at full speed into the sky. Lupus could only watch as the thick clouds swallowed up the ship from his eyes. We growled at the sky as more Jet Force ships arrived only to find no enemies but merely the aftermath of destruction and theft. 

* * *

  



End file.
